King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands has spoken to members of the MH17 research team.
The King travelled to Rotterdam on Wednesday and held discussions with those who have been investigating the MH17 disaster for years and the lawsuit relating to it. 193 of the victims were Dutch nationals.
His Majesty spoke to employees of the Public Prosecution Service, the Ministry of Justice and Security and the Dutch police. He heard about their experiences, their work, and the complexity of the investigation. There were also discussions about preparing relatives of the victims for the results and how it felt to work on such an investigation.
Both the King and his wife, Queen Máxima have met with investigators and relatives of victims several times since the tragedy.
MH17 was shot down on 17 July 2014 while flying over Ukraine. It had taken off from Amsterdam and was headed to Kuala Lumpur. All onboard (283 passengers and 15 crew) were killed. The governments of the Netherlands and Australia hold Russia responsible, but Russia continues to deny responsibility.
A criminal investigation was initiated with police and judicial authorities from the Netherlands, Australia, Belgium, Malaysia and Ukraine joining together to work in a Joint Investigation Team (JIT).
The trial for those believed responsible begins on 9 March in The Hague in the Schiphol Judicial Complex.